Lotus sound the alarm after being blindsided by secretive, restrictive ESL Impact changes
On February 4th, Lotus, an orgless women's team that competed in ESL Impact League Season 6, announced that they would be unable to compete in the second qualifier for Season 7 due to changes in the gender verification process for ESL Impact competitions.
Multiple members of the Lotus lineup have told Dust2.us that they felt the team were not given a fair chance due to the requirements being secretive and not publicly communicated, excessively restrictive, and overall hard for teams to complete in a reasonable timeframe.
Dust2.us reached out to one of Lotus' players, Samantha "Zazu" Blair, to understand why the team were unable to meet ESL's requirements to prove the lineup's gender identity for the league. According to Zazu, ESL FACEIT Group introduced a number of changes to the gender verification process for Season 7 that "blindsided" the team and made it difficult for Lotus to meet ESL's requirements.
Zazu said that ESL previously accepted multiple different forms of proof for a player's gender identity, including: a driver's license, a doctor's note confirming the player is receiving gender-affirming care, or a prescription for certain kinds of gender-affirming medication.
However, Zazu claims that ESL suddenly changed the requirements, making them stricter than in previous seasons. Tournament officials removed the prescription option, while requiring a driver's license be sent into ESL. In the event that the driver's license did not match the player's preferred gender, they would also be required to have a doctor's note be sent directly from the medical provider to ESL, where previously players could provide the doctor's note to ESL themselves.
Zazu says this latter method proved difficult for her teammates due to laws surrounding confidential medical information in the United States. These laws require medical offices to obtain written confirmation before sharing medical information with a third party, something that can prove time-intensive due to the bureaucracy involved.
This is what barred at least one Lotus player from being able to compete, as their medical provider said they needed at least two weeks lead time to sort the matter out, running afoul of ESL's deadline to confirm their gender identity.
Zazu further alleged that ESL were unwilling to accept a doctor's note from her teammate due to their medical provider, Planned Parenthood, only sending medical records by fax, whereas ESL will only accept them via email/e-fax, confirmed by communications between Zazu and ESL tournament manager Aisling Klimoski:
While the more restrictive verification methods are problematic on their own, the team also claims ESL made no effort to publicize the new requirements, failing to disclose what types of evidence the tournament organizer would be accepting moving forward.
"We had no idea anything had changed. We understood that the verification process was different, but we had no idea of the specific changes because they were not mentioned anywhere." -Samantha "Zazu" Blair
The changes to the gender verification requirements were first announced on the GGFORALL Discord on December 18th, 2024. However, neither the message nor the included blog post explain how the process has been changed or mention the new requirements.
These changes were also not disclosed when ESL published the new 2025 ESL Impact League rulebook, with the language in the new rulebook being similar to that of the 2024 rulebook in being vague on what types of verification will be accepted for the league:
While there were further announcements by ESL on the #GGFORALL Discord informing players of the new verification requirements, these posts once again did not spell out the changes, rather encouraging teams to contact the ESL referee email "[email protected]".
As a result, it appears that teams like Lotus had no way of knowing their old proof from previous seasons may be rejected, a matter that was made worse by vague and confusing communication from ESL tournament management. Zazu shared an email from January 15th where she asked ESL tournament manager Aisling Klimoski about the new requirements.
As can be seen in the email, Klimoski did not mention the new requirements, only explaining the technical aspects of submitting verification via the ESL Portal, a service ESL uses to collect information about players as seen below:
Whether intentional or not, the fact that the new requirements were not disclosed at this time led Lotus to spend the next 15 days collecting doctor's notes, prescriptions, and ID's that it would later find were worthless in the eyes of ESL.
The team would submit their gender verification proof on January 30th only to be told a few hours later by Klimoski that multiple players would be barred from competing:
Klimoski told the team as seen in the picture above:
Just because its [sic] easier to respond here - You [Zazu] have been verified and are eligible, I seem to be missing blegh and tokkis ID's in the link. For gadfly and cyclone (and I think blegh based on the photo of the medication?) we require a doctor and/or specialist note[that] should briefly describe any relevant medical considerations, such as a diagnosis related to gender identity or transition. This needs to be sent directly to us from your doctor and/or specialist.
As previously mentioned, January 30th is far too close to the deadline for teams to meet ESL's stringent requirements, ruling the team out of competing in ESL Impact League Season 7. While ESL did extend a small favor by allowing the team to compete in the first open qualifier, they were shortly thereafter ruled out of playing in the second qualifier and thus missed their chance to compete in the twice-yearly women's league.
Overall, it appears that despite Lotus' best efforts to comply with ESL's onerous requirements for transgender players to compete in ESL Impact, they were ultimately barred due to restrictive and secretive requirements, poor communication from ESL, and a system that ultimately punishes marginalized players rather than working to increase female and LGBTQ+ engagement in esports.
Dust2.us reached out to ESL for comment regarding the changes to better understand why the changes were made, what forms of verification ESL accept, and what motivated ESL to make these changes for ESL Impact League Season 7.
We asked the following questions:
May you please provide an overview of how the verification process has changed for players to verify their gender?
Players have told us that EFG have removed a number of verification methods including submitting their own doctor's notes and by showing gender transition prescriptions. Can you confirm these methods are no longer accepted?
In line with that, what types of evidence do EFG accept for a player to prove their gender identity for the ESL Impact League?
It is understood that EFG are requiring all players to prove their gender identity to compete in the ESL Impact League. Can you confirm this is true? Additionally, can you provide a timeline for how long players have been aware of this new requirement?
What are valid methods for a doctor/specialist to send proof of gender transition to EFG? Is email the only valid method or will EFG accept e-Fax and other methods?
Some individuals Dust2.us have spoken to have raised concerns that the changes made may be related to the recent changes to the political environment in the USA. Do you have any comment with regards to this?
ESL responded with the following statement:
To maintain the integrity of the ESL Impact League, we have refined our player verification process based on player feedback and our commitment to fostering a safe and inclusive competitive environment. We began the communication process of these modifications on October 15th and publicly announced it on December 18th.
All ESL Impact participants are required to verify their eligibility to compete. Both transgender and cisgender players remain eligible, once they complete the verification process with the appropriate documentation. This system ensures we can maintain the fairness and integrity of the competition for all participants. To learn more about our updated policy, please see the ESL Impact CS General Rules available on the ESL Impact website.
Unfortunately, ESL's statement fails to answer many of Dust2.us' questions, notably failing to disclose in a public-facing manner what types of gender verification players may use, how they may send them in, and what motivated these changes to a system that has been in place for six seasons. Dust2.us followed up with ESL to confirm they had nothing more to say, with the tournament operator declining further comment.
Considering this publication was unable to confirm the new requirements with ESL refusing to tell us despite our best efforts, did Lotus ever really have a chance? With the ESL Impact League and the #GGFORALL initiative being marketed as a way for women to take their first step into esports, is it really fair for ESL to create "unknown unknowns" that serve as a stumbling block for players in achieving that goal?
